“Are you going to kill me?” Kisaragi Chiyo grabbed the tentacle wrapped around his neck with one hand, still able to laugh even in the face of such a situation.
"Are you going to kill me?" Kisaragi Chiyo blinked slowly. He tilted his head back, his large haori clinging to the ground because it was wet, making him look like a dying butterfly with its wings pinned down as his throat was being squeezed.
The repeated question received no answer. The Dark-purple-eyed Wraith continued to stare at him expressionlessly, looking completely resolute and impossible to reason with.
But Kisaragi Chiyo was not worried about this; a faint smile played on his lips as he answered for the other party with complete composure, "You won't."
“If you really wanted to lay a hand on me, you would have done it a long time ago.”
Oh?" Hara Kenji narrowed his eyes. He used the tip of one of his tentacles to mockingly tap Kisaragi Chiyo's face, asking leisurely, "What makes you think that?
You should already know, shouldn't you? From the very beginning, I have been planning exactly how I would devour you.
As a human, I cannot touch you, but once you die and become my kind..
At that time," Hara Kenji paused, "you will be able to merge with me completely.
But you won't do that," Kisaragi Chiyo said with extraordinary certainty, "because you are Hara Kenji.
This name exists as his anchor, but it also becomes a shackle; otherwise, why would they say that a name is the shortest curse?
"Moreover, just as you said, humans are a very fragile species." Kisaragi Chiyo laughed softly, her laughter mixed with coughing, but even that could not suppress the mirth in her voice.
His eyes were bright, his face, which usually wore a mostly indifferent expression, was flushed from suffocation, lending his entire countenance a touch of beauty.
So there's no need for you to do it yourself; if you just let things take their course, I might just accidentally die one of these days.
Hearing Kisaragi Chiyo's words, Hara Kenji subconsciously frowned. He truly could not understand how anyone could be like Kisaragi Chiyo, speaking of death so casually.
Does this person not know to avoid such omens?
“So let me go, Hara.” Kisaragi Chiyo looked at the Dark-purple-eyed Wraith, who seemed dissatisfied with his answer, squeezed the tentacles wrapped around her neck.
Once I die, I'll be at your disposal, even if it means going to hell together.
"Smooth-talking liar." Hara Kenji sneered, not believing those words, but in the end, he still released the tentacles wrapped around Kisaragi Chiyo.
*
“I saw something at the bottom of the water.” No one liked wearing wet clothes, Kisaragi Chiyo was no exception, so he hid from the others who were still searching for Shimizu and found a restroom to take his clothes off first. Then he handed his coat to Hara Kenji, asking him to use his tentacles to help shake it dry.
Although it was still damp and uncomfortable after being shaken dry, it was at least much better than when he had just been dragged from the bottom of the water.
"What did you see?" At the moment, Hara Kenji didn't dare to stay too close to Kisaragi Chiyo, mainly because of his inherent cooling effect; if he got too close, Kisaragi Chiyo might catch a cold from him.
"My constitution is actually quite good." Kisaragi Chiyo felt that although she couldn't compare to those who exercised year-round, at least when it came to colds and occupational ailments, they had almost never appeared on her body.
"Is that so?" Hara Kenji looked at him with a thin, mirthless smile, his pale and handsome features appearing somewhat gloomy.
“I don't believe a word from fragile humans.”
Kisaragi Chiyo: ".."
I saw some of the things that happened in the past at the Shimizu residence under the water." Kisaragi Chiyo's wise choice was to skip over this topic directly, he continued as if nothing had happened, "Just as I suspected, there should be two abnormal existences at the Shimizu residence.
The first is the Shimizu we all know.
Do you know about the existence known as a Wandering Soul?" Kisaragi Chiyo stated her initial guess. "It is a type of entity different from ghosts or spirits; it is an illusion formed by intense emotions, regardless of whether the subject is living or dead.
Are you saying that Shimizu's current state is a Wandering Soul?" Hara Kenji frowned. "If it can take shape regardless of life or death, does that mean Shimizu is still alive?
I think that's likely the case." Kisaragi Chiyo nodded and then shook her head. "Although he should still be alive, if someone doesn't go to awaken him while he is in a Wandering Soul state, his body will remain in a continuous slumber. This situation is equally dangerous for a human being.
Furthermore, a person in a Wandering Soul state doesn't actually realize they are abnormal, so for now, finding Shimizu remains the most important task.
"What about the second one?" Hara Kenji asked.
The second type is still a Wandering Soul." Kisaragi Chiyo walked through the long corridor, heading straight toward the room she had seen in her memories, "But unlike Shimizu, the second is condensed from the lingering thoughts left behind by the deceased.
“The deceased..” Hara Kenji frowned.
"To be precise, it should be Shimizu's mother." Kisaragi Chiyo stood before a closed door.
Because it is the resentment of someone who died by drowning, it hasn't departed even until now.
"I was right, wasn't I, Madam Shimizu?" Kisaragi Chiyo reached out to push open the room's door. Inside was the old lady who had not appeared since leaving; at this moment, she was kneeling before a Buddhist shrine.
An idol in the shape of a rat was enshrined upon the altar.
Author's Note:
----------------------
[Heine-Haller believed that madness is a manifestation of the murky quality within a person. Water quality is a murky state of disorder, a flowing chaos, the beginning and end of all things.] "Madness and Civilization"
*The concept of Wandering Soul comes from "Tono Monogatari."
Thanks to all the little angels for adding this to your collection, mwah 03330
Chapter 23
The Shimizu family had been enshrining a household deity named [Rat] since long ago, which was also why the issue of the rats that Shimizu mentioned had existed since she first moved in here.
"The women of the Shimizu family all possess the ability to understand the speech of rats." Shimizu brought a cup of hot tea to Kisaragi Chiyo; she did not ask why Kisaragi Chiyo's clothes were damp, nor did she ask how he had found this place.
That feeling is quite strange," the old lady smiled. "Mice are very intelligent animals; sometimes, you can command them to do quite a lot of things.
And Shimizu Kagami also inherited this ability.
Therefore, the book that Mr. Mitsui had locked in the cabinet was precisely the one that Shimizu had commanded the rats to steal; they had used a key to open the drawer while Mr. Mitsui was changing his clothes and made off with the book.
In order to ensure this ability could continue to be passed down within the Shimizu family, it was decided that from that day forward, the husband would marry into the Shimizu family.
"Since the Shimizu family enshrines the Rat God, why do you want to get rid of them now?" Kisaragi Chiyo had not forgotten the moving plan the old lady had mentioned at the beginning.
".. There is a reason why it must be done this way," the old lady replied after a moment of silence.
“Oh?” Kisaragi Chiyo did not press further, but instead picked up her tea and took a slow sip.
As he looked up, in the dim light of the room, he saw a pure white little mouse crawl onto the Buddhist altar, eating the apples offered there, after noticing his gaze, it even gave him a friendly wink.
Kisaragi Chiyo: ".."
"As a guardian deity, it is quite lively and friendly." Kisaragi Chiyo stared at the little mouse for a few seconds before averting her gaze, then she saw another greyish-white mouse passing by her, leaving a trail of wet paw prints on the light-colored tatami.
Because each Rat God is reborn, their birth coincides with the birth of a new child in the Shimizu family, from that moment on, that special ability is also transferred to that newborn child.
"So, since the Rat God was enshrined, has every child born to the Shimizu family been a girl?" Kisaragi Chiyo offered her own guess.
No, it's not quite like that.. It's just that from that time onward, every generation of the Shimizu family has only given birth to a single female infant.
Is it because only females can inherit the Rat God's power, so you won't allow your daughters to marry?
Yes, that's right.." The old lady's face showed a look of distress, "But I don't know when it started, but while inheriting the Rat God's power, the women of the Shimizu family also inherited a curse.
"A curse?" Kisaragi Chiyo's eyebrow arched slightly upon hearing this. He set down his tea and, from an angle the old lady couldn't see, cast an inquiring glance toward Hara Kenji, who was three meters away.
After noticing his gaze, the latter shook his head slightly.
This meant that even though there should be a Dark-purple-eyed Wraith sensitive to the aura of a curse, no presence related to a curse could be felt within the Shimizu residence.
"So, what exactly is this curse the old lady mentioned?" Kisaragi Chiyo wondered as she continued listening to the other person.
“From a certain day onwards, those who inherited the abilities of the Rat God would occasionally fall into a state of madness—engaging in senseless muttering, screaming, or walking barefoot on gravel without feeling any pain, even when their feet were covered in blood.”
They huddle in corners, fearing crowds and avoiding sunlight, occasionally exhibiting states that are just like—
Like rats.
"Including you?" Kisaragi Chiyo's overly direct question could be considered somewhat offensive.
No.. what's strange is that this curse doesn't appear in every generation. So far, there have been six people who inherited this ability and experienced this madness.. including my maternal grandmother, little Shimizu's mother, my daughter, Shimizu Megumi.
.. A random curse?" Kisaragi Chiyo looked thoughtful. "Then, besides that, are there any other symptoms?
"Anything else?" Upon hearing Kisaragi Chiyo's question, Shimizu glanced out at the heavy rain, her face etched with worry.
And also, every time an episode occurs, it is almost always during such hateful, gloomy, rainy weather," the old lady said, her voice tinged with hatred. "Shimizu Ke was in the middle of such a curse during one of those rainy days, running outside barefoot.. By the time we finally found her, she had already drowned in the deep pond in the courtyard.
I know about that.. It was Miss Shimizu who told me about the existence of this room.
"So that's how it is.." Shimizu nodded slowly, her gaze fixed on the continuous, damp rain falling endlessly from the sky outside the window, falling, falling..
Is she resentful?" After a moment of silence, the old lady suddenly asked, "She has never come to see me; is she resentful about inheriting the family's curse? If it's not because of the Rat God..
"No." Kisaragi Chiyo raised her voice slightly to interrupt the old woman. She looked at the expression of bewilderment surfacing on the other woman's face and calmly spoke the words that had been entrusted to her to be delivered at that moment, when she was being dragged beneath the water.
Miss Shimizu has never held a grudge, or rather, she doesn't feel that this curse was brought upon her by the Rat God.
The words she wants me to convey to you
She has never regretted being able to inherit the Rat God's abilities; her love for them is no different from her love for you. To her, you and the Rat God are both the most important family members.
So, please do not abandon your family.
For Shimizu Kei, who had been able to understand the language of rats since childhood, the existence of the rat colony at the Shimizu residence was no different from that of family; because they had once been protected by them, she also harbored the desire to protect them in return.
Perhaps, besides her intense longing, it was the help of the Rat God that allowed Shimizu Kei to condense and exist again in the form of a Wandering Soul?
However, Kisaragi Chiyo had no way to verify this speculation.
However, after listening to the old lady's account and considering the fact that Hara Kenji had not sensed any presence of a curse, Kisaragi Chiyo felt that the madness occurring on rainy days mentioned by the old lady probably had nothing to do with the Rat God.
"May I ask," Kisaragi Chiyo thought, as a vague suspicion suddenly surfaced in her mind after repeatedly pondering the old lady's words, but this suspicion needed to be confirmed by asking Madam Shimizu.
Has there been a custom of incestuous marriage within the Shimizu family for several generations?
Incestuous marriage was not an uncommon occurrence in certain eras of the distant past. Before modern science had become widespread, marriages between cousins were quite ordinary, practiced to strengthen the so-called cohesion and mutual interests between families.
As for the dangers caused by doing so—albinism, polygenic inheritance, birth defects.. it is simply impossible to explain clearly in just a few simple sentences.
After Kisaragi Chiyo asked this question, Shimizu's face went blank for a long time; she had received a proper scientific education and naturally knew the dangers of inbreeding.
But after all, such things only appeared in the stories told to her by her mother's generation, so the madness occurring in the Shimizu family was seen as a curse brought by the Rat God's power; this preconceived notion caused her to completely overlook the factor of recessive genetic diseases.
But.. Shimizu Ke didn't start out like this." Shimizu murmured, "She suddenly went mad on a rainy day.
"Some genetic conditions do not manifest right from the start; some only appear once a certain age is reached," Kisaragi Chiyo explained slowly and calmly.
He looked at the old lady's pale face, wondering if she had realized that perhaps the madness of Shimizu Megumi was indeed due to a hereditary disease within the family.. If medical intervention could have been applied back then, perhaps the subsequent deaths would not have occurred.
But saying all this now was of no use.
As for whether it is a hereditary mental illness, it will require an examination by a more professional doctor to be certain.